Iconic Films

2 for 1 tickets to Casablanca, this coming Monday

Navigation - link to other main sections from here

Skip Navigation

From The Times

December 20, 2007

Airline chief Peter Hill faces high jump for refusing to kick off tourists for President Rajapaksa

Peter Hill has been the carrier's chief executive, based in Colombo, for eight years

Mahinda Rajapaksa was in Britain to watch his son passing out from the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth

Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent

The British head of Sri Lankan Airlines faces dismissal after the national carrier refused to bump passengers off a flight from London to make way for the President of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan Government, which owns 51 per cent of the airline, said yesterday that it was cancelling a work permit for Peter Hill, who has been the carrier’s chief executive, based in Colombo, for eight years. It cited the airline’s refusal to clear 35 seats for Mahinda Rajapaksa and his entourage on a flight from London via the Maldives to Colombo on December 13.

Mr Rajapaksa, accompanied by his wife and several aides, had been on a private visit to Britain to watch his son, Yoshitha, passing out from the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. The President eventually returned to Colombo on December 14 on a charter flight with Mihin Air, a budget carrier that was set up this year and is wholly owned by the Sri Lankan Government.

Opponents of Mr Rajapaksa say that the incident illustrates the increasingly autocratic and arbitrary behaviour of the President, who won an election in 2005 promising a harder line against the rebel Tamil Tigers. Since then he has made himself head of the ruling party, the Commander-in-Chief and the Minister of Finance and of Defence, and he has allocated a ministry to each of his three brothers.

The Rajapaksa brothers control more than 70 per cent of the Sri Lanka budget, according to local economists. “Put it this way: it’s getting pretty hard to say no to the President,” one Western diplomat said.

The Government says that it requested the seats in advance and that the airline promised that they would be made available. “We have recommended the cancellation of a work permit issued to Peter Hill,” Dhammika Perera, chairman of the Government’s Board of Investment, said. “They said they have enough seats . . . and finally when the day comes, they said there were no seats for the delegation.”

The airline, however, said that it turned down the request because its flight was fully booked, mostly by tourists spending their Christmas holidays in Sri Lanka or the Maldives.

“They made a request for 35 seats, presumably at short notice, but the flight was full, unfortunately,” Chandana de Silva, an airline spokesman, said. “If the Government, as the majority shareholder, had officially directed Sri Lankan Airlines, it would have been different. For something like this, the CEO would have to make the call.”

Mr de Silva said that he had seen the announcement by the Board of Investment chief on television, but the airline had yet to receive any official communication about Mr Hill’s work permit.

He also suggested that the move could be linked to the negotiations with Emirates, the Dubai national carrier, which owns 43.6 per cent of Sri Lankan Airlines and has managed it under contract since 1998. Mr Hill used to work for Emirates and was appointed by it to lead Sri Lankan Airlines.

The Emirates management contract expires at the end of March, but talks on renewing it, which are scheduled to resume next month, have been inconclusive so far. Local media say that the Government wanted a bigger management role and believed that the existing contract is tilted in favour of Emirates financially.

Mr Hill has said that the talks have been dragging on for too long. “The negotiations between the Government and Emirates have been going on for 18 months. I would have liked to have seen them resolved by now,” he told reporters in Delhi last month.

Mr Hill has also put blame for a recent fall in profits on the growth in Sri Lanka’s separatist conflict, which he says has put off many tourists.

Strained relations

— Jacques Chirac was accused during his French presidency of using his influence to obtain free flights from Air France and the budget carrier Euralair for himself and his family and friends

— In July 2001 Tony Blair announced that he and his family would fly to southwest France with Easyjet, who based an advertising campaign around his choice. He then chose Ryanair, a rival airline

— Europe was scandalised when Prince Aarge, a member of the Danish Royal Family, was forced by the Germans to ride across Europe on a cattle truck at the start of the First World War. He was then arrested by Germans on suspicion of being a French spy and strip-searched before proving his innocence

— The Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was refused entry to Nigeria by security officials when his plane landed with 200 members of his heavily armed, all-female guard. The Nigerian President intervened to smooth over the difficulties

Sources: Times archives, The New York Times, agencies

This 'leader' of sri lanka, Mr Rajapakse is a disgrace to all civilize leaders of the world, he runs this nation as his private estate, handing out jobs to anyone who says 'yes' with bowed head..........and they continue to line their pockets with hard currency .shame on him for putting us to shame.

Terene hopman, Pickering , canada

The opinions echoed by the Sinhala posters seem somewhat remenisant of what Americans were saying when Bush went into Iraq. "We don't care what the world thinks. We support the president." History will repeat itself with a president who will stay in power until the end of his term while thoroughly abusing his powers and swindling tax dollars. Its a shame that the Sinhala people can not see this themselves.

This strong sense of nationalism and blind patriotism has caused Sri Lanka to slip backwards ever since it gained independence.

Tourism was once a profitable industry in Sri Lanka but by skirmishing with Tamil rebels and beating the drums of war, this gov't has effectively collapsed that industry. Sri Lankan airlines under Emirates control is currently still the envy of other South Asian airlines, due to Peter Hills management. With him gone, the airline will fail backwards like the country has.

A.J. Subram, Waterloo,

One key piece of information left out in this article is the fact that SriLankan Airlines did offer the Persident 5 business class seats on the flight in question.

This was deemed 'insufficient" and 35 seats (18 business 17 economy) were demanded by the delegation.

Furthermore, current EC legislation (EC 261/2004) places huge obligations on carriers departing EC airports; including fines and litigation in circumstances where paying passengers are denied carrieage.

Well done Mr. Hill!

Sean, Auckland, New Zealand

Hats Off to You Mr Peter Hill...Congratulations...Just coz Mr President is flying with 30+ of his people for his Son's passing out..does not mean that 30+ people have to forfit their seats.....

Sam, London,

Re : Would the British hire a foreigner to run British airways?
I believe Willie Walsh is Irish and he succeded Rod Eddington who is Australian?

Loxbow, Dubai, UAE

There are ways to handle these kind of situations more professionally... Without knowing the truth behind this incident it is not fair for anyy one to make any judgement or say more......... if this had happend exactly the way it had been described, then of course this kind of an act coming from a President is totally unacceptable!

Angela, London, UK

If there are no seats, there are no seats. It applies to everyone including the president. Hats off to Mr.Hill for not dodging passengers off the flight.
Passengers pay a fare and expect a service. Rules are rules and have been placed to ensure the delivery of a quality service to customers.
Sounds like Mr. Rajapakse does not know how to appreciate the honesty of a man, who's done the right thing, by treating everyone equally. Perhaps Mr. Rajapakse should learn to exercise power in the right manner?

Dilini, Nottingham,

It would have been more profitable for Peter Hill to have those seats available for the delegation.To bump off 35 ordinary passengers costs only the accomodation ,transport and probably a another air ticket to each of the passengers and now it had cost him more.

Sjeeva, Colombo, Sri Lanaka

About time that the Sri Lankan government left its marker on these Westerners who still dream that they rule some form of colony.

Sanj, London, UK

It is all talked about national carrier, flag carrier and all that, but what about the other stakeholder nearly 50% is emirates, this how the truths and histories are manipulated. The authoritarian governments imposes their low of jungle without any due care of the others. Please think about all the innocent tamil people in their iorn grip and act before it is too late.

naras, london, uk

Country is at war. Prasident has to make quick decisions. Mahinda is the most important man for all peace loving Sri Lankans. He is the only one capable of bringing peace. Peter Hill should understand that after all it is Sri Lankan air lines and prasidents safety at risk. Prasident did the right thing

Janaka saparamadu, New York, US

Hope reasonable readers will note the following:
â€œThey said they have enough seats . . . and finally when the day comes, they said there were no seats for the delegation.â€

If that is the case, why didn't the Airline honour thier promise to none other than the President of Sri Lanka? Why didn't The Times reporter put such obviously logical question to Airline official before embarking on reporting entirely speculative comments of unnamed sources/analysts? Obviously, some have chosen this somewhat one sided newsreport to character assasinate the Sri Lankan President.

To put the record straight, there is no evidence at all to suggest that neither the President nor his officials ever suggested that any paasenger should be 'taken off' to accomodate his entourage.

Sadly, The Times' reporter has not come upto reasonable journalistic standards on this occasion, thus creating ample room for misunderstanding and similarly providing an opportunity for mischievous commentators.

S Jeyaprakash, London,

No authoritative officials of the national carrier were available for comment but well informed industry sources said that the whole issue started with the President returning with his entourage from London being unable to obtain seats on Friday on the UL flight to Colombo. The President was rushing back home in view of the third reading of the budget. President Rajapaksa, who had visited Japan, was returning from London after attending the passing out of his son . from the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, on completion of a one yearâ€™s training course on December 13. Meanwhile, highly placed government sources told The Island that the refusal of seats to President could have been due to the thinking of â€˜someoneâ€™ that the government wouldnâ€™t survive the final budget vote on Dec. 14. The sources said the SriLankan airline had a history of delaying its flights for hours until the arrival of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.Hill has served as the CEO of Sri Lanak since 1998

Sunil, Kandy,

Countries like Srilanka remains as a third world, for the simple reason of our politicians mind set. Peter Hill's story a clear example of arrogance and idiotic way Sri lankan president and the rest runs the country. Shame on you President

Alister, london, united kingdom

Here is an excerpt from the Island paper And they are by no means a pro-MR paper. Lets not forget how Chandana De Silva was so close to CBK and also not forget what she used to do.
So we cannot suddenly feel Peter is not over the HILL

"Meanwhile, highly placed government sources told The Island that the refusal of seats to President could have been due to the thinking of â€˜someoneâ€™ that the government wouldnâ€™t survive the final budget vote on Dec. 14.

The sources said the SriLankan airline had a history of delaying its flights for hours until the arrival of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga."

Sunil, Kandy,

My previous comment is an article from the Island paper which deserves to be heard, since it is by far one of the most unbiased papers available in Lanka.

Due to space issue i could not post it all, but again the key points are:

"Meanwhile, highly placed government sources told The Island that the refusal of seats to President could have been due to the thinking of â€˜someoneâ€™ that the government wouldnâ€™t survive the final budget vote on Dec. 14.

The sources said the SriLankan airline had a history of delaying its flights for hours until the arrival of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. "

AND:

"BOI Chief Dhammika Perera yesterday told a private TV station that Sri Lankan Airlines CEOâ€™s work permit had been withdrawn.

Industry sources claimed Presidential aides had bungled by requesting a large number of seats both in the business and economy classes, on the same flight, which would have meant off-loading of many passengers. "

Sunil, Kandy,

Why does Sri Lanka need a foreigner to run its national carrier, unless Sri Lanka has no qualified people in the country? I am sure there are lots of good business people for this job among Sri Lankans. I can see some people who are against the current political leadership trying to make a political milage out of this issue. At the end of the day, it is better for Sri Lanka to appoint a person for this the job from a qualified Sri Lankan, and that it will keep much needed resources in the country. Would the British hire a foreigner to run British airways?

Hewage, Montreal,

Sri Lanka is one of worst countries in the world for state terrorism, but alas, given this made up "war of terror" so that the american war machine has a reason to exsit and not implode, we will have no solution to the suffering of the sri lankan tamils or anyone else that crosses the path of this or any singhalese president.

krishan canagasabey, baldock, england

Let's see if I have this right. Negotiations with SL gov't and Emirates has been dragging on way too long. The President and the "government" form a new airline - Mihin Air. The Emirates deal will collapse leaving a crippled SriLankan Airlines and an emerging Mihin. Hmmm ....

Jesse Champers, NYC,

"Daft" is an extreme understatement.
A request to accommodate a head of state on a private visit, and his delegation of 35 cannot, on any day take priority over other passengers who have booked flights in advance and presumably looking forward to their holidays. This is pretty simple and straight forward.
The government did not book in advance and probably just turned up at the airport hoping to bump other passengers off board. Sri Lankan Airlines did the right thing by defending the passengers who had confimed seats. If the government wanted seats (for its delegation on a private visit) it should have followed the proper procedures without acting amateurish. And Mr. Hill gets the sack because he did the right thing.
Sorry to see Peter Hill go: after the national carrier was privatised (well, almost) in 1998, it has leapt leaps and bounds in service and also has won many international accolades. And this is the way we repay the man who was in charge. Pathetic.

Yasiru Samarakoon, London, UK,

its about time the international community did something to protect innocent civilians in sri-lanka
lets start with the freedom of press
lets see the international community put more pressure on the relevant authourities in colombo
please do not wait for another darfur or bosnia
save mother lanka

rata perata, welikada, sri-lanka

I must disagree with kumara in sayin that the Sri lankan Airlines has been extremely succesful in the recent times, regardless of the decrease in number of tourists and sky rocketing fuel prices. It has won many World Class awards for its QUALITY of service, and i must personaly admit that the service is much better than the times which it was fully owned by the government and named Air Lanka.

It is ridiculous as to how the president had taken an entourage of 20 odd members as this was clearly not an official trip, and it was a trip based on private needs! I dont see any wrong doing by Peter, whom has apparently refused to allow a large number of passengers to be taken off just so that the jumbo sized entourage can go home in time.

Yet, the fact that it was done to our president, seems shocking; After all he is our leader and we must respect him regardless of our differences of opinion, when it comes to incidents such as this.

harischandra, ratmalana, sri lanka

Good luck to Peter Hill. I've been in the airline industry for 26 years and kicking off full fare passengers would be no way to run an airline. Srilankan Airlines needs the revenue, badly!!! I applaud Peter Hill...Congratulations!!

B Harris, Los Angeles, CA

I flew Airlanka in the past, when it was managed by Sri Lankans. It was constantly overbooked, and unsuspecting travelers were routinely thrown off their flights to accomodate people with better "connections". This was a private visit, not an official one, so he needs to follow the normal procedures like anyone else. If security is an issue, why didn't he charter Mihin Air in the first place? This was merely a show of muscle that did not work out the way Rajapakse wanted. At least we know that he is not afraid of international embarrasment.

Edward, New Jersey, USA

Clearing 35 passenger seats to accommodate his minions and side kicks? That tells quirte a lot about this person who is the President of a third world small Island whose contribution seems to be tea, cricket and a bunch of terrorists who are skimming off the the credit card IDs in this country. When his country was hit by Tsunami many Brits made donations as this Island was not capable of handling it itself. Soon his son a Naval cadet of very little experience will be his defence minister or the chief of naval staff!

Gary Smith, LONDON,

Sri Lankan airlines was well-managed by Sri Lankan nationals. We dont need foreigners to manage ANY of our national assets.
I do not agreee with Mahinda Rajapakse in many things; but I salute him for showing Peter Hill the door.

Tell me, what can Peter Hill do that a Sri Lankan manager cannot do?

Kumara Soysa, Markham, Canada

ah ah

mehdi, babol, iran

What can you expect from a president who is heading a force that is responsible for thousands of innocent civilian's disaapearance in a short period. This is the way Sri Lanka works anyway. Nothing to complain.

Chen Ling, Shenzhen, China

i dearly hope the politicians will think about the country for once and apologise to Mr. Hill who has done a wonderful job leading 'Sri Lankan'. Mahinda Rajapakse is popular due to his tough stance on the LTTE but appears to be only interested in slapping his name on everything and strengthening his family's stranglehold on the country's politics. I just like to point out the fact that the President's son went to Dartmouth navel academy only a few months after joining the navy and on a scholarship which is usually given to a top cadet who has served and proved him/herself. As for the 'Mihin Lanka' airline, the 'Mihin' part is from the "Mahinda' name and the President and his brother pretty much control the airline which was setup with state funds. It currently operates two old aircraft leased from a Bulgarian airline.

Nuwan, Brisbane,

OK. That's another airline struck off my "fly with" list.

R Bingham, Lauzun, France

What can expect from a third graded leader of a third world nation, there is nothing different between Praba and Pakse both are very good fi\riends helping each other, Mr. Raja Hora Pakse is the greatest ruiner and thief found In Lanaka perhaps second only to Praba

Jaffna man, Jaffna, Sri Lanka unfortunately

For security reasons the president of a country who is the Nr.1 target by terrorists can not make advanced bookings. The airline is said to have promised that there will be places. (though the journalists are shy to mention THAT PART of the story) which seems to be the norm lately How many airlines do leave the common passenger home to favour VIPs.
Anyway I don't think he's not being fired, I think only his work permit in sri lanka is being rejected, that is a very normal thing in western countries, where every day thousands of non white immigrants get rejected their visas.

nia, cesena,

You can not expect anything else from a Banana Republic.

Ian Woolley, Frankfurt, Germany

If there is an election now, Mahinda Rajapakse would still win. People knows if Ranil comes to poser, he will give Eelam to Prabha. All the gains will be lost. Prasident knows that people are on his side due to lack of leadership in the opposition.

Ruwan Alwis, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Peter Hill did the right thing. The SL President's office is acting with arrogance and should be embarrassed by the press attention.

LR Simon, Boston, MA, USA

This is another attempt by the government to make popular their so called state owned, but registered as private entity, Mihin Lanka "Private Limited" low cost airline. Anyone related to airline field knows who changed SriLankan into a modern, profitable carrier from an ailing, loss making, aging carrier. It was no one else, it was Peter Hill. Someone might argue this is a mud campaign against the government, but no, this is the truth. Anyone in the airline field knows how hard is it to even catch a seat in this Christmas season. First and importantly, this wasn't any major official tour for the President, it was only a journey to see his son and was the first time a president participated at such a Navy event, then, the fare paid passengers should get a priority too.

Airline Insider, Sri Lanka, Dubai, London,

I commend Peter Hill. He did the right thing. It will be the airline's loss it they lose him.

john butcher, Beijing, China

Peter Hill apparently has a Sinhala wife or something. So technically he can still stay.

Sunil, Kandy,

This is the thanks he gets for turning a government owned airline (Airlanka) which operated at a loss, into a world class airline (Sri Lankan).

Unfortunately, we never learn....

Karunasena, Florida, USA

I congratulate Mr Hill. To put customers, who were no doubt looking forward to their holidays, before one's own personal position, is admirable indeed. If only more business and political leaders could follow such an example.

J Wood, Castries, St Lucia

This is what the democracy is, he is the all mighty president of the Democratic Republic of Srilanka. Well done keep your good work!!!!

naras, london, uk

Sri Lanka is now a laughing stock. This is a sad state of affairs. The Rajapakse administration is destroying the country. If this is the plight of a CEO what can be said for the situation of an average Lankan!

Navin J Karunatilaka, Mannheim, Germany

If the airliner agreed to provide seats and later turned it down, there is nothing to argue and action taken by the sri lankan government is justified. But, when I read this article, I feel that author is more interested in a mud campaign. Sri Lankan president is doing a great job in eliminating the terrorists, we understand that it is a pain in the neck of many westerners, thatâ€™s where the labels come in, hardliner, second most dangerous place, or whatever you call it. We donâ€™t care, majority of Sri Lankanâ€™s support him in his military campaign against terrorists. He may be ruining the economy, yet, as long as he is hitting the terrorists, people wouldnâ€™t say much.

Lalinda Palliyaguru, colombo, Sri Lanka

This is Sri Lanka. We rule the way we want, not the way the Westerners want. If the majority of Sri Lankans don't have any problem with the way the government works(with 3 brothers in power), then its nobody's problem!

Sam Perera, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Usual punishment for those who get on the wrong side of the Rajapaksa brothers is death by 'unknown gunmen'. By comparision, loss of workpermit seems fairly minor. Lets not forget that this is the second most dangerous country in the world for aid workers and third for journalists.

Peter Ratnadurai, New Malden, UK

I do feel sorry for the Sri Lankans who live under this president. The president and his brothers (by the way two of them are US nationals) are directly blamed for disappearances of hundreds of Tamils. Even today the international observers said that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's office has interfered with a commission probing civil war rights abuses and murders by state security forces. Lets see what the international community is going to deal with him.

Raul Joseph, London,